July 31, 2009

A giant photo of the soldier hung in the piazza, with the words "Rome wants its citizen Gilad Shalit free" - words Mayor Alemanno repeated at the evening ceremony.

I'm sure you're asking, "WTF?! I thought Gilad Shalit was Israeli!" or maybe if your online alias is Palin Steele, "Who the hell is Gilad Shalit and why should I look up a minor piece of trivia?!" This is the part that is so moving:

Mayor Gianni Alemanno told those assembled of his ties to the Shalit family and to Israel. He met with Noam Shalit several weeks ago, when he visited Sderot, and called on all the capitals of Europe to give Gilad honorary citizenship. "We must bolster the message and all fight towards one goal," he said, "bringing Gilad safe and well to his family."...The city council voted to give Shalit
honorary citizenship to coincide with Thursday's third anniversary of
his capture in a cross-border raid from Gaza.